


and we have suffered enough

by Nyxierose



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-29 05:16:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13920171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyxierose/pseuds/Nyxierose
Summary: Or, three times Poe Dameron really wanted a quiet life.





	and we have suffered enough

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this gifset: http://thoselittleboats.tumblr.com/post/171150794826/insp. Also posted on my tumblr [@electricbluebutterflies](http://electricbluebutterflies.tumblr.com).

He runs his fingers through her hair and she purrs contentedly against the curve of his neck. They haven't gotten to sleep together in the innocent sense in weeks, and the briefest touch sends a rush through his body. Strange to think that a year ago, all of this seemed impossible. The current likelihood of their side winning, yes, but also _this_ , the woman resting her body against his like it's where they both belong.

And maybe, Poe thinks, maybe that's exactly what it is.

A month ago, most of the things in his head right now would've been inappropriate. They probably still are, but less so every day. In another month or two, maybe they'll win, and after that…

"What are you thinking?" Rey murmurs at exactly the right moment. She swears she doesn't do the creepy mind-reading thing on him nor anyone else, but her natural intuition alone is good enough that she doesn't have to.

"You figure out what you're doing after this ends?"

Her dark eyes grow wide, and it's a couple moments before she processes the question. "N-no…"

He shifts position just the tiniest bit and kisses her, gentle as ever. It's been a journey, finding the right physical tone with her. Hopefully there'll be the rest of their long natural lives to perfect it, but for now he's settled on treating her fragile because no one else does. He knows perhaps better than anyone that she's not breakable, but nor is she as strong as her public perception, and-

"Really? You could do anything you want. _Anything_. You know that, right?"

"I don't know what I want yet," she counters. "Is that enough?"

"Yeah. Always."

He thinks she chose him for the lack of pressure. Apart from that one time with the badly planned escape route and him losing a hand and in hindsight probably the worst day of his life so okay fine he wasn't making the best choices… apart from that incident, when his damn life depended directly on whether she could use her powers well enough, he's never asked anything of her. Hasn't needed to. They mesh well enough together that the few times he's been tempted, she's seen the implications and done the thing before he found the words. But even that's different than the constant to-do list she seems to get from the rest of the world, and they both know it, and-

"Do you have plans?" she murmurs, again like she already knows.

"Vague ideas," he laughs. "Think I'm gonna go home. Lick my wounds for a while."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Sounds like the right thing to do. And maybe if I find somebody to settle down with… maybe do that, have a couple kids, become every bit as domestic as my parents were and love every moment of it."

Rey picks up on the implications quickly enough. He knew she would, but the light in her eyes as the words resonate is still one of the most beautiful things he's ever seen.

"I'm not sure about kids yet, but the rest of it…"

"You'll love it there. Everything's so green, you'll get sick of it. Same thing with rain. Cute as you were that one time…"

"I was _terrified_."

"There was no way of warning you, but it _was_ kinda funny…"

She lets him have the point, shifting and kissing his cheek. "You sure you want to bring me back home? Isn't your dad expecting some _nice_ girl, not…"

"Nah. This is like how they met. Little more dramatic, better story, but same idea. And you're about as nice as anybody, and-

"Thank you."

All of a sudden, Poe gets the best worst idea of his life. The ring on a chain around his neck suddenly feels like too much - he's worn it fifteen years, ever since he came of age, waiting for the right person, and it hits him that this girl here…

"I have an idea." His free hand reaches up and unhooks the chain, and he knows damned well this isn't a particularly romantic proposal but at least they're both fully clothed. "I don't know how you feel about commitment, but… I don't wanna lose you, Rey. Ever. And paperwork and ceremony would make us a lot harder to separate."

She takes the ring from his hand and puts it on her own, and somehow unsurprisingly it fits _perfectly_. "I want that too."

\--------

There are a lot of unanswered questions right now, and Poe hopes most of them will clear up soon enough, but there is also a fragile girl on a bed and covered in bandages and that is a far bigger issue.

Rey isn't talking about what happened to her, but a few details are obvious. Most of her body is covered in cuts and burn marks, and she's lost a lot of blood. Not _too_ much, but damned close, enough to worry all of them. _Whatever happened_ \- the details hang in the balance, undefined and maybe better left that way - at least she's alive. At least all her limbs are intact. At least she-

She snaps out of a nightmare suddenly, moving too much and then screaming even more from the pain. He's already by her side, curled up in a chair he does not intend to leave for the next week, and he reaches out and gently takes her hand and hopes she's lucid enough to realize he's no threat. "Rey. Sweetheart. You're safe."

"Everything hurts," she growls as her body stills. " _Everything_."

He knows they offered to just put her under until she heals up. He also knows she refused that, and he can't really blame her. With the amount of chaos going on in their world, everything could change in the space of a week and that kind of awakening would _not_ be fun. Been there done that, he thinks. Not one of the better moments of his life.

"You're gonna be okay," he breathes. And she will be. Unless something goes dramatically wrong, all she'll be stuck with is a couple interesting scars. "I just…"

He feels emotional all of a sudden, much more than previously, like he's going to cry any second and not for any logical reason and-

"What's wrong?" And isn't that just like her, caring about someone else's pain even when she's drowning in her own.

"I don't wanna lose you. Not like this. Not tragic and…" His voice cuts off again, the weight of it all too much, and he takes a few deep breaths and tries to tough through. "We're going to have a life together, Rey. And we can't do that if you…"

"I'll try."

She kisses his hand, most contact they'll be able to manage until she's unhooked from all the equipment surrounding her, and he lets himself drown. Circumstances be damned, he hopes and he wants and he is not alone.

After a while, he feels the faintest tendrils of her mind reaching out to his. Gentle, always, an intrusion he could refuse if he wanted to. But instead he holds her hand a little tighter, granting permission for her to poke around and calm him down.

"I want that life too."

\--------

Five years after their side wins, the dust has settled as much as it's going to and Poe is starting to accept the quiet. After wanting it for so long, he's still a bit overwhelmed. He gave almost twenty years, an even half of his life so far, to the cause. Now, without that…

"You're thinking too much," Rey mutters, rolling her eyes. "The creature doesn't like it."

He turns to look at his wife and wonders, as he has on an hourly basis since the day they officially met, why this radiant creature who could've had anyone she wanted chose _him_. They have that conversation every once in a while, and her answer always changes, but he suspects it's mostly because he sees her humanity. Sure, she did save the entire galaxy at least once (maybe twice, there are some weird technical details nobody bothers with) and he is completely impressed by all the stuff she can do, but those weren't relevant factors. At least, not as relevant as her being a very overwhelmed young woman who'd seen light and echoes of herself in him, and-

"You have _got_ to stop calling our kid that," he counters.

"Not my fault it's apparently going to be as vocal as you are."

"We'll see once it's born, sweetheart. Might be more like you." He damn well hopes it will be. The world doesn't need a tinier version of himself, as fun as that would be to watch, and-

"No. Not like me. Better."

They stand in silence for a while, no need for words between them. This is _real_ , and maybe by the time the kid is born Poe will process and be okay with that. Their child is going to grow up in a much different world than either of them did, and hopefully that world will stay there. Hopefully…

"You're still thinking too much, love."

"Can't help it. Still can't believe we got this."

"I think after seven years of listening to you ramble about how determined you were…"

"Never thought it'd be more than daydreams. But here we are."

"Yeah. Here we are."

He learns in and kisses her, and for a couple moments he forgets the weight of it all.

"Love you too."


End file.
